The Oak Park Festival Theatre, Oak Park’s premiere Equity theatre and the oldest professional classical theatre in the Midwest, today announced a $90,000 grant from the Paul M. Angell Family Foundation in support of its 50th Anniversary season and ongoing $1 million campaign to further secure the future of the company. The generous gift will be distributed over two years – $60,000 in 2025 and $30,000 in 2026 – and provides vital momentum for the theatre’s plans to expand access, invest in sustainability, and strengthen artistic programming.
“As Oak Park Festival Theatre celebrates five decades of producing exceptional work in Austin Gardens, this investment from the Angell Foundation helps ensure we’ll be here for the next fifty,” said Peter Andersen, Artistic Director. “At a time when arts funding is shrinking nationwide, the Angell Foundation’s generosity is a lifeline–and a launching pad.”
The Paul M. Angell Family Foundation’s mission is to work towards a world of thriving and equitable communities in which the promise and power of the arts flourish, and where healthy oceans sustainably support the human and other animal species that depend on them. Their support is a major milestone for Oak Park Festival Theatre’s campaign to raise $1 million, which will fund environmentally conscious infrastructure, educational programs, and long-term organizational sustainability.
The Angell Foundation grant follows a record-breaking gift from the Park District of Oak Park earlier this year and reflects the theatre’s growing network of supporters, who are committed to making classical theatre accessible, inclusive, and resilient for the next generation.
ABOUT OAK PARK FESTIVAL THEATRE
Oak Park Festival Theatre, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, is Oak Park’s premiere Equity theatre and the oldest professional outdoor classical theatre in the Midwest. Since 1975, Oak Park Festival Theatre has produced over 100 plays for thousands of theatre-lovers, and are best known for summer outdoor shows performed under a canopy of stars in the idyllic Austin Gardens park. It is the mission of OPFT to perform timeless plays in distinctive spaces and create empowering educational programming, both of which foster dialogue, strengthen relationships, and explore the depth of the human experience. For more information: www.oakparkfestival.com
ABOUT THE PAUL M. ANGELL FAMILY FOUNDATION
The Paul M. Angell Family Foundation makes grants in three priority areas: Conservation, Performing Arts and Social Impact. The foundation was created in 2011 to honor Paul M. Angell, founder of Newly Weds Foods, Inc., and strives to embody the legacy of his compassion, ingenuity and industriousness. The performing arts program supports vibrant organizations and programs, new work that expands the canon, organizations rooted in underinvested communities, and arts education, all with a focus on theater and classical music. The program provides grants to performers, presenters, broadcasters, and educators in its geographic focus areas of metro Chicago, Cleveland, Ohio, Detroit, Michigan, and the Mid- Atlantic region (from Washington, DC to Philadelphia, PA). For more, visit pmaff.org.